William Thew Mayson’s Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book One
Title
William Thew Mayson’s Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book One
Description
William Mayson’s Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book One from 20th October 1941 until 30th September 1947. During this time trained as an observer/navigator, air gunner, second pilot and air bomber. Trained at No. 9 Air Observers School, 23 Operational Training Unit, 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit. Posted to 7 Squadron in September 1941 for operations as a bomb aimer. After completing a tour of operations posted to 11 Operational Training Unit as an air bomber instructor in February 1944, qualifying at No. 1 Air Armament School. Trained as an H2X Instructor with 482nd Bombardment Group, USAAF. July 1944 saw a posting to 1655 Mosquito Training Unit followed in August by operational posting to 139 Squadron as navigator/bomb aimer in Mosquitos. Posted to 128 Squadron in October 1944. In April 1945 posted to Bomber Command HQ Communications/Courier Flight as a navigator. Further posting to 109 Squadron in July 1947.
Served at RAF Oakington, RAF Penrhos, RAF Pershore, RAF Wyton, RAF Alconbury, RAF Waterbeach, RAF Warboys.
Aircraft flown were Blenheim, Anson, Defiant, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, Mosquito, B-24 Liberator, B-17 Flying Fortress, Oxford, Proctor, Dominie, Auster, Miles Messenger.
With 7 Squadron he flew 32 night bombing operations as bomb aimer to targes including Krefeld, Osnabruck, Milan, Genoa, Turin, Mannheim, Munich, Lorient, Cologne, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, St. Nazaire, Berlin, Kiel, Stettin, Bochum, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Munster, Le Creusot. His pilots on these operations were Flight Lieutenants Barrow and Baker.
On returning from Berlin on 28 March 1943 with only 3 engines, his aircraft crash landed at their base with no injuries.
Flying with 139 Squadron there were 21 night bombing operations. Targets were Cologne, Berlin, Hannover, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, Brunswick, Kassel and Wilhelmshaven. His pilot was Flight Lieutenant Bush.
Flight Lieutenant Bush continued to be his pilot with 128 Squadron where they flew 34 night bombing operations. Targets were Berlin, Hannover, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Hagen, Osnabruck, Munster, Magdeburg, Mainz, Kassel and Bremen.
Overall William flew 87 operations with 20 to Berlin and 12 to Hanover.
Served at RAF Oakington, RAF Penrhos, RAF Pershore, RAF Wyton, RAF Alconbury, RAF Waterbeach, RAF Warboys.
Aircraft flown were Blenheim, Anson, Defiant, Wellington, Stirling, Lancaster, Mosquito, B-24 Liberator, B-17 Flying Fortress, Oxford, Proctor, Dominie, Auster, Miles Messenger.
With 7 Squadron he flew 32 night bombing operations as bomb aimer to targes including Krefeld, Osnabruck, Milan, Genoa, Turin, Mannheim, Munich, Lorient, Cologne, Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven, St. Nazaire, Berlin, Kiel, Stettin, Bochum, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Munster, Le Creusot. His pilots on these operations were Flight Lieutenants Barrow and Baker.
On returning from Berlin on 28 March 1943 with only 3 engines, his aircraft crash landed at their base with no injuries.
Flying with 139 Squadron there were 21 night bombing operations. Targets were Cologne, Berlin, Hannover, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, Brunswick, Kassel and Wilhelmshaven. His pilot was Flight Lieutenant Bush.
Flight Lieutenant Bush continued to be his pilot with 128 Squadron where they flew 34 night bombing operations. Targets were Berlin, Hannover, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Hagen, Osnabruck, Munster, Magdeburg, Mainz, Kassel and Bremen.
Overall William flew 87 operations with 20 to Berlin and 12 to Hanover.
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Spatial Coverage
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Format
One booklet
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
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Identifier
LMaysonWT1432358v1
Collection
Citation
Great Britain. Royal Air Force, “William Thew Mayson’s Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book One,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed May 15, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/59700.